Nanoscience News (<front>)

Nature Materials, Published online: 01 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41563-025-02201-1

The authors demonstrate broadband terahertz emission from a two-dimensional van der Waals ferroelectric semiconductor, NbOI2, that originates from its efficient optical rectification and apply it to realize in situ near-field terahertz spectroscopy.

Nature Nanotechnology, Published online: 01 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41565-025-01875-7

Revealing the intrinsic size effect on relaxor ferroelectric films is crucial for informed device engineering for high-density energy storage or acoustic actuators.

Nature Nanotechnology, Published online: 01 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41565-025-01885-5

X-ray synchrotron measurements reveal heterogeneities at electrode|electrolyte interfaces of lithium metal batteries operating at high potentials. Here the authors demonstrate the rearrangement of ionically conductive phases in polymer electrolytes that lead to battery performance degradation.

Deterministic Neural Syllogistic Reasoning (Part 2) recorded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFCHg-DAnEs

In my last talk (https://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/228844), I introduced the criterion of deterministic neural reasoning, the method of reasoning through model construction and inspection, and proposed a novel neural network, Sphere Neural Network (SphNN), which reasons syllogistic statements by constructing and inspecting Euler diagrams. SphNN does not use training data, instead, it uses a transition map of neighbourhood relations. In this talk, I will present three control process (1. neighbourhood transition without constraint; 2. constraint neighbourhood transition; 3. neighbourhood transition with restart) and prove that the whole control process will successfully construct an Euler diagram in one epoch (M=1). With this proof, SphNN becomes the first neural network that reaches the symbolic-level of syllogistic reasoning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFCHg-DAnEs

• Speaker: Tiansi Dong
• Monday 31 March 2025, 17:00-17:45
• Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, Computer Laboratory, William Gates Building.
• Series: Foundation AI; organiser: Pietro Lio.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE04647A, Paper Open Access &nbsp This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Seán R. Kavanagh, Rasmus Svejstrup Nielsen, John Lundsgaard Hansen, Rasmus Schmidt Davidsen, Ole Hansen, Alp E Samli, Peter C K Vesborg, David O. Scanlon, Aron Walsh
Selenium has reemerged as a promising absorber material for tandem and indoor photovoltaic (PV) devices due to its elemental simplicity, unique structural features, and wide band gap. However, despite rapid...
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry

Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE01350J, Paper Open Access &nbsp This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Hyo Jin, Dong Woog Lee, Jeonguk Hwang, Min Hoon Myung, Jee Ho Ha, Seungwoo Choi, Soon-Jae Jung, Seunghyun Lee, Jinwoo Park, Young-Ryul Kim, Nyung Joo Kong, Youngsik Kim, Hyun-Wook Lee, Hyunhyub Ko, Tae Joo Shin, Seok Ju Kang, Myung-Jin Baek
Common polymer binders are insulators, which significantly diminish the battery performance owing to their low electron mobility. For aqueous sodium-air batteries (SABs) to exhibit reliable performance as energy storage systems,...
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry

Canine Myasthenia Gravis: Insights from 167 cases and the need for better diagnostics

An graduated from the University of Ghent in Belgium, she completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the National Veterinary School of Alfort in Paris. She pursued a residency in veterinary neurology at the University of Ghent and a research fellowship focused on congenital myasthenia at Oxford University.

• Speaker: An Vanhaesebrouck, Department of Veterinary Medicine
• Friday 06 June 2025, 08:45-10:00
• Venue: LT2.
• Series: Friday Morning Seminars, Dept of Veterinary Medicine; organiser: Fiona Roby.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Grand Rounds - Our experience treating cats with feline infectious peritonitis

Chaired by Katie McCallum

• Speaker: Claudia Grosso de Matos, Giulia Cattaneo, Dora Gkolomazou, Katie McCallum, Department of Veterinary Medicine
• Friday 11 April 2025, 08:45-10:00
• Venue: LT2.
• Series: Friday Morning Seminars, Dept of Veterinary Medicine; organiser: Fiona Roby.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE05696E, PaperMing Chen, Li Gong, Igor Zhitomirsky, Kaiyuan Shi
The incorporation of redox-active molecules into aqueous electrolytes addressed the challenges in the development of energy storage devices by enhancing energy density, expanding voltage windows, and improving cycling stability. Aqueous...
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry

Shape-shifting Elephants: Multi-modal Transport for Integrated Research Infrastructure

Data Acquisition (DAQ) workloads form an important class of scientific network traffic that by its nature (1) flows across different research infrastructure, including remote instruments and supercomputer clusters, (2) has ever-increasing throughput demands, and (3) has ever-increasing integration demands—for example, observations at one instrument could trigger a reconfiguration of another instrument.

This talk describes ongoing work on developing specialized transport protocols for DAQ workloads. It introduces a new transport feature for this kind of elephant flow: multi-modality involves the network actively configuring the transport protocol to change how DAQ flows are processed across different underlying networks that connect scientific research infrastructure. This idea takes advantage of programmable network hardware that is increasingly being deployed in scientific research infrastructure. The talk describes an initial evaluation through a pilot study on a hardware testbed and using data from a particle detector.

Bio: Nik Sultana is an assistant professor of Computer Science at Illinois Institute of Technology. He develops networking techniques to improve cybersecurity and research infrastructure. Before joining Illinois Tech, he was a post-doc at UPenn after completing his PhD at Cambridge University. In 2024 and 2023 he received VSP awards from the Universities Research Association, and in 2022 he received a Google Research Award.

• Speaker: Speaker to be confirmed
• Friday 04 April 2025, 15:00-16:00
• Venue: Online (Teams link will appear before the talk).
• Series: Computer Laboratory Systems Research Group Seminar; organiser: Richard Mortier.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

TBC

Abstract not available

• Speaker: Prof Ljiljana Fruk ( Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology)
• Thursday 22 May 2025, 11:30-12:30
• Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
• Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Deep convection and ocean overturning

The ocean’s circulation plays a pivotal role in Earth’s climate system, with its changes during climate transitions being of critical importance. This study, grounded in the principle of dynamical similarity, employs Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) in an idealized setup to dissect the complexities of ocean circulation, with a particular focus on the North Atlantic and the role of buoyancy and wind in shaping the hydrological cycle.

We begin with a simple system—a non-rotating ocean forced by a single scalar—then gradually introduce complexity by adding constant/variable rotation, wind forcing, and a second scalar. Surprisingly, our results show the spontaneous formation of gyres and a western boundary current, along with full-depth overturning, even without the introduction of wind. Wind forcing further localizes upwelling near the western boundary current and primarily strengthens the gyres while having less influence on overturning circulation. With the introduction of a second scalar (salinity), our results become more representative of the real ocean, reproducing key features such as mode water formation, mid-latitude deeper thermocline structures, and polar haloclines, both with and without wind forcing. Our DNS framework is well-suited for resolving convection processes, including diffusive convection near the poles and salt fingering in mid-latitudes, both of which are crucial for establishing mixed layers and pycnoclines in these regions.

A key highlight of our study is capturing ocean circulation across multiple scales—from basin-scale overturning and gyres to mesoscale eddies, submesoscale dynamics, and millimeter-scale convection. These multiscale interactions regulate heat, salt, and tracer transport. Our highresolution approach explicitly resolves the interplay between large-scale circulation and small-scale turbulent mixing, offering deeper insights into ocean stratification, ventilation, and buoyancy-driven flows, providing critical insights for forecasting the evolving dynamics of the North Atlantic.

• Speaker: Bishakh Gayen, University of Melbourne
• Friday 04 April 2025, 13:00-14:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 1.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Dr Birgit Rogalla.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Searching for light-dark matter with Spherical Proportional Counters

The precise particle nature of dark matter, which makes up most of the matter in the universe, remains elusive and is one of the leading open questions in physics. The NEWS -G collaboration is searching for light dark matter candidates with a novel gaseous detector concept, the spherical proportional counter. Access to the mass range from 0.05 to 10 GeV is enabled by the combination of low energy threshold, light gaseous targets (H, He, Ne), and highly radio-pure detector construction. Initial NEWS -G results obtained with SEDINE , a 60 cm in diameter spherical proportional counter operating at LSM (France), excluded for the first time WIMP -like dark matter candidates down to masses of 0.5 GeV. The collaboration currently operates a 140 cm in diameter spherical proportional counter, SNOGLOBE , constructed at LSM using 4N copper with 500 um electroplated inner layer, which is currently collecting data in SNOLAB (Canada). This seminar will discuss recent NEWS -G results and the developments in spherical proportional counter instrumentation and detector understanding that contributed to the first results with SNOGLOBE from its commissioning data. The next stage of the experiment, using detectors constructed from ultra-pure electroformed copper directly in the underground laboratory where they will be operated will be presented, with the construction of a 30 cm in diameter detector commencing this year in the Boulby underground laboratory, and the plans to construct a larger scale detector, DarkSPHERE – with both detectors having the potential to break new ground in the dark matter puzzle.

• Speaker: Prof./Dr. Patrick Knights, University of Birmingham
• Tuesday 01 April 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Venue: Seminar Room -- RDC D2.002 .
• Series: Cavendish HEP Seminars; organiser: Dr. Aashaq Shah.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Searching for light-dark matter with Spherical Proportional Counters

The precise particle nature of dark matter, which makes up most of the matter in the universe, remains elusive and is one of the leading open questions in physics. The NEWS -G collaboration is searching for light dark matter candidates with a novel gaseous detector concept, the spherical proportional counter. Access to the mass range from 0.05 to 10 GeV is enabled by the combination of low energy threshold, light gaseous targets (H, He, Ne), and highly radio-pure detector construction. Initial NEWS -G results obtained with SEDINE , a 60 cm in diameter spherical proportional counter operating at LSM (France), excluded for the first time WIMP -like dark matter candidates down to masses of 0.5 GeV. The collaboration currently operates a 140 cm in diameter spherical proportional counter, SNOGLOBE , constructed at LSM using 4N copper with 500 um electroplated inner layer, which is currently collecting data in SNOLAB (Canada). This seminar will discuss recent NEWS -G results and the developments in spherical proportional counter instrumentation and detector understanding that contributed to the first results with SNOGLOBE from its commissioning data. The next stage of the experiment, using detectors constructed from ultra-pure electroformed copper directly in the underground laboratory where they will be operated will be presented, with the construction of a 30 cm in diameter detector commencing this year in the Boulby underground laboratory, and the plans to construct a larger scale detector, DarkSPHERE – with both detectors having the potential to break new ground in the dark matter puzzle.

• Speaker: University of Birmingham
• Tuesday 01 April 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Venue: Seminar Room -- RDC D2.002 .
• Series: Cavendish HEP Seminars; organiser: Dr. Aashaq Shah.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Prevalence, Transitions and Access to Mental Health Services for Young People with Eating Disorders

Abstract not available

• Speaker: Prof. Tamsin Ford, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Head of Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
• Wednesday 09 April 2025, 12:00-13:00
• Venue: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87076030035?pwd=XUpJuh8jiR0mae1AhkV79qbg8MtlSM.1.
• Series: ARClub Talks; organiser: Simon Braschi.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

In this work, a 3D superionic transport skeleton Na3P is in situ constructed within the sodium anode, which successfully enhances the ion diffusion coefficient of the anode from 2.54 × 10‒8 to 1.33 × 10‒7 cm2 s‒1. Thanks to the ultrafast ion transport and excellent interfacial stability, the solid-state sodium-metal battery can be stably cycled for more than 15 000-cycle at 3C.

Abstract

Solid-state sodium-metal batteries (SSSMBs) have emerged as a promising candidate for next-generation energy storage systems due to their natural abundance, cost-effectiveness, and high safety. However, the intrinsically low ionic conductivity of sodium anode (SA) and poor wettability to solid-state electrolyte (SSE) severely hinder the development of SSSMBs. In this study, a 3D superionic transport skeleton Na3P is in situ constructed within the sodium anode by simply melting inexpensive and low-density red phosphorus with sodium, which successfully enhances the ion diffusion rate from 2.54 × 10‒8 to 1.33 × 10‒7 cm2 s‒1. Moreover, Na3P in the composite sodium anode (CSA) effectively induces the uniform deposition of Na on the surface of SSE, significantly reducing the interface impedance of symmetric cells from the initial value of 749.15 to 14.97 Ω cm2. Enabled by the integrated 3D superionic transport skeleton, the symmetric cell achieves exceptional cycle stability of over 7000 h at 0.1 mA cm‒2 and 4000 h at 0.3 mA cm‒2. Furthermore, SSSMBs incorporating CSA demonstrate an ultralong lifespan of over 15 000 cycles at 3C while maintaining a high-loading operation capability, significantly outperforming previously reported studies. This study highlights the crucial role of cost-effective CSA design with enhanced ion transport in advancing high-performance SSSMBs.

The interface in printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells is regulated via the flexible molecule of dodecaethylene glycol (DEG) with abundant polar oxygen atoms. The regulation modulated the wetting sequence of the scaffold, promoted perovskite crystallization in the scaffold, and relaxed interface stress. The device with interface regulation successfully achieved an improved power conversion efficiency of 20.27% and demonstrated good stability.

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells have achieved remarkable progress in photovoltaic performance, driven by advancements in interface engineering. The buried interface between the electron transport layer and the perovskite layer is particularly critical, as it governs both perovskite crystallization and the formation of residual strain. In this study, the buried interface in printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells (p-MPSCs) based on a triple-mesoporous scaffold of TiO2/ZrO2/carbon is reconstructed by employing dodecaethylene glycol (DEG), a long chain molecule rich in polar oxygen atoms, to enhance device performance. Treating the scaffold with DEG optimizes the wettability sequence across the three layers by improving the TiO2 surface's wettability, facilitating the preferential crystallization of perovskite in the underlying TiO2 layer. Moreover, the DEG layer effectively buffers residual strain and suppresses detrimental defects at the interface. As a result, p-MPSCs with the optimized interface achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.27% and retain over 92% of their initial PCE after 500 h of continuous operation under maximum power point tracking.

This study reports an effective strategy, OSPLIT (optothermal-stimulated persistent luminescence imaging and therapy), which enables high-contrast imaging and the thermal ablation of lymph node metastases. The rational design of these nanomaterials is detailed and mechanistic insights are provided, demonstrating the advantages of optothermal-stimulated NIR-II persistent luminescence in lanthanide-doped nanoparticles over conventional NIR-II fluorescence imaging.

Abstract

Persistent luminescent nanomaterials have significantly advanced in vivo bioimaging and biosensing by emitting photons after excitation ceases, effectively minimizing tissue autofluorescence. However, their application in biomedical fields such as tumor theranostics is limited by low brightness and rapid signal decay. To address these issues, OSPLIT (optothermal-stimulated persistent luminescence imaging therapy), a dual-function strategy for imaging and treatment is introduced. The OSPLIT approach enhances the release of charge carriers from deep traps in lanthanide-doped nanoparticles, resulting in a 73 fold increase in persistent luminescence within the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window. In living mice, it enables high-contrast imaging of lymph node metastases, with a signal-to-background ratio 11.8 times greater than conventional NIR-II fluorescence. Optothermal-boosted nanoparticles are effective in ablating lymph node metastasis and preventing tumor spread. These findings highlight the potential of optothermal stimulation to enhance persistent luminescence for both imaging and therapeutic applications.

A novel method for detecting cancer cells and monitoring apoptosis employs electron-sink-enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Gold (Au) shells coated with electroactive liposome membranes amplify the SERS signal through active electron transfer. This technique enables real-time and highly sensitive detection of cancer cells by measuring apoptosis-associated electron flow, offering a powerful approach for distinguishing cancerous from normal cells.

Abstract

A novel method is presented for detecting cancer cells and assessing apoptosis using electron-sink-enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) via active electron transfer. By coating gold (Au) shells with electroactive liposome membranes (ELMs) derived from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, the SERS signal is enhanced through chemical mechanism (CM) enhancement driven by electron transfer. The ELMs first donate electrons to the Au shells, which, upon laser excitation, amplify the local electromagnetic field, resulting in stronger Raman signals from the attached probing molecules. Additionally, the electron flow from cancer cells into the Au shells correlates with apoptosis, producing a strong SERS signal, while normal cells exhibit weaker signals. This method enables real-time monitoring of cancer cell apoptosis, distinguishing cancer cells from normal cells based on the enhanced Raman signal linked to electron flow. This approach marks a breakthrough in CM-based SERS applications, offering a sensitive method for cancer detection through the measurement of electron flow.

Isomeric graphdiyne frameworks with ThSi2 topology are synthesized from 2,2′-binaphthalene and 6,6′-biazulene-based isomeric monomers. The biazulene-based graphdiyne framework shows narrow bandgap of down to 1.15 eV and can act as new platform for loading single metal atoms for high-performance electrocatalysis.

Abstract

Graphdiynes (GDYs), synthesized via direct coupling of arylacetylenes, have attracted great attention due to their unique electronic properties and structural diversity, typically forming 2D layered frameworks. However, crystalline GDY-like frameworks with 3D topology remain challenging to synthesize. Here, the study reports two highly crystalline, isomeric GDY-like frameworks with ThSi2 topology, constructed from 2,2′-binaphthalene and 6,6′-biazulene-based monomers. The azulene-based framework, due to its large dipole moment, exhibits a narrow bandgap of 1.15 eV, significantly lower than its naphthalene counterpart (2.33 eV). As ruthenium (Ru) single-atom supports, these frameworks enable strong Ru-diyne interactions, achieving an ammonia yield rate of 188.7 ± 1.6 µg h−1 mgcat −1 and a Faradaic efficiency of 37.4 ± 0.6%. Such bicontinuous channels and tunable electronic structures offer electrocatalysis field new opportunities. Moreover, the azulene-based framework, featuring a higher highest occupied molecular orbital  and lower lowest unoccupied molecular orbital  energy level, ensures superior electron mobility. These 3D crystalline frameworks introduce a new covalent organic framework (COF) family with diyne linkages and pure carbon skeletons, broadening the scope of COF materials. Their well-defined structures provide an ideal platform for tuning optoelectronic properties, enabling fundamental studies on structure-property relationships and opening new opportunities for catalytic and electronic applications.